The Ultimate Prank
by siouxsmn
Summary: Scott threatens to get even with Gordon for all his pranks. See chapter one for better summary.
1. Chapter 1

The Ultimate Prank

By siouxsmn

_Scott Tracy is always an easy target for his prank pulling brother Gordon. But when Scott finally has his fill of being the target and threatens Gordon with revenge, can he be tricky enough to out-prank a master prankster? His brothers don't think so. Jeff is worried about the condition of the house if a prank war erupts. Gordon thinks he can outmaneuver Scott on any prank he tries to pull. An unexpected problem puts the prank war on hold and as a result, Gordon is convinced he's won. In the end, someone points out that Scott did manage to pull the Ultimate Prank on Gordon that has even Kyrano impressed._

_BTW, if you're expecting this to be a story with nothing more than prank after prank, you'd be sorely disappointed. Also, this story did not have a beta reader, so all the mistakes are mine all mine. _

Chapter 1

Scott Tracy sighed as he looked at his reflection in his bathroom mirror. He had just stepped out of what he thought was a very refreshing shower after returning from a rescue fighting a fire. Not only had he and his brothers help put out the underground gas fire, but they had to do so wearing the heaviest fire protection gear they had. Western Texas – in August – in temperatures that were already at 105 degrees at 10:00 in the morning did not help make it easy to fight the fire. Not only did it require frequent trips to a watering station that had been set up for everyone to get drinks of water to keep hydrated; the heat also sapped the strength and everyone, International Rescue included, were feeling that the most.

It took the combined efforts of International Rescue and many local firefighting services to finally get the underground fire under control, after fighting it for over 12 hours. Thankfully, the townsfolk who were most threatened had the fire gotten out of control, realized that they were literally saved by this combined effort and pitched in to provide food to the hungry group. So at least International Rescue didn't have to worry about eating before crashing in their beds once they got home.

Being the first one to get back to the island, Scott went immediately to his bedroom to take a shower. After fifteen long minutes, he finally got out and dried off. He got no further than the bathroom sink when he spotted his reflection in the mirror. Bracing himself against the marble countertop, Scott's chin dropped to his chest and he shook his head. Warily, he once again looked up at his reflection shining back at him.

"GORDON!" he exclaimed through clenched teeth. Hearing the sounds of Two's engines through the open window in his room, Scott quickly got dressed and headed to the hangar bays.

TBTBTBTBTB

Virgil Tracy landed the monolith that International Rescue called Thunderbird Two with his usual grace and dexterity. It actually surprised him somewhat when the big ship landed much more gracefully than he would have expected. Like his brothers, Gordon and Alan, who were laying down on the medical beds in the back, he was dead tired and wasn't 100% sure he was going to be able to land his 'bird without doing a couple of hops down the runway.

Getting his big ship nestled into her place of honor in the Thunderbirds hangar, Virgil quickly went through his post-flight procedures and powered the ship down. He sighed heavily as he thought about the long walk from the hangar up to his bedroom. Heaving himself out of the pilot's seat, he shuffled back to the med bay where his two brothers were fast asleep.

Virgil reached over and ruffled Gordon's hair. "Wakey, wakey Gordo. We're home."

Gordon stirred in his slumber and pried his eyes open. They were still red and watery from the heavy smoke and he blinked a couple of times to focus. He yawned and stretched, which were accompanied by a few pops along his joints, and making Virgil wince in sympathy. "I don't know if I want to just jump in the pool to clean up or see if I can stand long enough to take a shower," said Gordon.

Virgil, who by this time had sat on the edge of the bunk Alan was still sleeping on, only shook his head. "Go to your room Gordon, take the shower and then go to bed. If you jump in the pool and forget to clean off the chlorine you'll regret it later." Gordon nodded and moved stiffly towards the pod doors. "Don't forget to turn the showerhead on massage and direct it to your lower back Gordon. I can see you stiffening up!" Gordon only waved and shuffled towards the living area of the island.

Virgil now looked down at Alan and gently shook his brother's shoulder. Alan was lying on his left side, protecting his right wrist against his chest. During the course of fighting the fire, an explosion occurred which threw Alan back a few yards. Virgil saw him land on that arm and had run over to assist him. He was amazed to find it appeared to be only badly sprained; he was certain that his baby brother had to at least fracture something by how hard he landed on it.

"Sprout? Time to wake up?" Alan shifted slightly, but did not wake up. Virgil smiled and tried again. "Come on, Alan. We're home, time to get up."

"Can't I just sleep here," Alan mumbled.

Virgil chuckled. "Nope. Come on, you know the rules. Let's get you cleaned up and then I can wrap that wrist properly."

Alan sighed and rolled over onto his back, still protecting his right wrist. He frowned when the words Virgil just spoke got through the fog his mind had been in. "Wait. What rules? There's no rule about not being able to sleep in the 'birds?"

"No. But there is a rule about not taking care of medical issues immediately upon return to base," argued Virgil. "And as the ranking medical official on the island, I'm not going to let you forget it, so come on."

Alan sat up and glared at Virgil. He was about to respond when he spotted something that just didn't look right. Shutting his eyes tight and shaking his head, he once again opened his eyes, and dropped his jaw at the sight coming towards them.

Virgil, not seeing what Alan was looking at, immediately became concerned. "Alan, what's wrong? Did you get dizzy?"

Alan looked over to his brother, his eyes slightly glazed. "Virgil, I swear! I was positive I didn't hit my head, but now I'm beginning to wonder if I did."

Virgil immediately grabbed a penlight _(For those of you who use torch instead of flashlight, and in case you don't know, a penlight is a small, thin torch used by medical folks in the US to check pupil reaction)_ to check Alan's pupils. "Alan, what it is? I can't help you if you don't tell me!"

"I'm seeing things, Virg. I swear I'm seeing thing!"

Virgil took a deep breath to calm himself. He put his hands on Alan's shoulders. "Okay, Alan. What exactly are you seeing? Are you seeing double?"

Alan only shook his head and pointed towards the pod door. "No. I think I'm seeing Scott, but it doesn't look like Scott!"

Virgil frowned and looked in the direction Alan was pointing. His jaw dropped as the eldest Tracy brother marched into the pod, looking just a bit more than peeved.

"Where's Gordon!" Scott demanded, completely ignoring the shocked looks his brothers were giving him.

Alan could only look on, his eyes wide in amazement. "How did he do it?" his brothers heard him whisper.

Scott finally sighed and looked over at Virgil. "WELL?"

Virgil finally broke down and chuckled. "Uhmmm, Scott? Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment and all, but don't you think dying your hair green to EXACTLY match Thunderbird Two is a bit much?"

Before Scott could answer, Alan, who had finally broken out of his stumped amazement joined Virgil in laughing. Temporarily forgetting about his injured arm, he swung around and pushed off the bed, only to fall back again.

"OUCH!" he cried out, grabbing his right wrist.

Virgil immediately sat down again and helped Alan to slide his wrist inside his uniform shirt to help anchor it. "Come on, Alan. Let's get you to med bay so I x-ray the wrist."

"I want to take a shower first, Virgil!" complained Alan.

"You can take your shower in the infirmary, than we get you fixed up," Virgil assured him. "You don't want to have to go through me wrapping your wrist twice, do you?"

Scott kicked himself for momentarily forgetting about his baby brother's injury. He rushed forward to help Alan stand up. "Come on, Sprout. Virgil is right. Let's get you taken care of and THEN you can rest."

Alan allowed his brothers to lead him out of the pod and towards the infirmary. "Okay, okay. I'll do as the doctor orders, but I gotta tell ya Scott. It's a little hard to take you seriously with Kermit the Frog sitting on your head."

"HEY!" Virgil tried to sound indignant to the comment about his favorite color, but he couldn't help but laugh. Alan was right. Scott's hair did have that green color.

Scott, for his part, only sighed deeply. He waited until after Alan got his shower and his wrist x-rayed and wrapped and the three brothers were headed towards their rooms. "Where is Gordon, anyway? It's not like him to leave if someone is hurt and he definitely stays around to see the result of his pranks."

"He was dead on his feet, Scott, so I sent him to his room and to bed," Virgil told his elder brother. "But leave him alone for now. He needs the rest, and so does his back. He was starting to stiffen up by the time we got back."

A flash of concern was seen on Scott's face and Alan and Virgil knew he would wait. If the brothers had one golden unwritten rule, it was that they would never prank Gordon, or seek revenge against one of his pranks, if his back was bothering him. Not that his brothers wouldn't put it above Gordon to use an injury earned during a rescue to garner sympathy from them. But when it came to his back, the opposite was effect. Gordon would do everything he could to convince his brothers he was fine, even though they were all experts now at spotting when his back was hurting.

"Okay, I'll wait," Scott replied in a resigned tone. "But I swear, one of these times he's going to go too far."

The brothers reached Alan's bedroom door and Virgil steered Alan towards his bed. Scott quickly pulled down the covers and Alan slid into bed, being careful not to bump his wrist. He was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Scott covered him up, smiling fondly at his baby brother.

"He gonna be okay?" he whispered to Virgil.

Virgil nodded and gestured Scott to follow him out of the room. After quietly closing the door, the two oldest Tracy brothers headed towards their rooms. "He'll be fine, Scott. I saw the accident and he only hurt his wrist. Frankly, I'm quite shocked it wasn't broken considering how hard I saw him fall."

Scott winced in sympathy. "Well, hopefully we won't get any calls for a few days and it'll give him time to heal." Scott sighed and ran his hand through his green hair, frowning when he felt the consistency of his hair – which felt more like dry straw rather than the soft strands it normally was. "I'm still gonna kill him!"

Virgil chuckled. "Scott, Scott, Scott. You know the dye will wash out when you take a shower tomorrow – it always does. And Dad will be back from his conference tomorrow and Gordon will cut down on the pranks. You know he always goes overboard whenever Dad is gone."

"I know, Virg. I'm just fed up with being Gordon's guinea pig all the time. I need to figure out a way to pay him back but good. Maybe he'll leave me alone then."

Virgil put his arm around Scott's shoulders and gave him a hug. "Scott. You're my older brother and I love you dearly, but let's face it. When it comes to planning pranks, you're just not deceitful enough to pull it off."

"Oh you're just a big bundle of support, BABY brother," Scott replied sarcastically.

Virgil only laughed and headed towards his room. He opened the door, but turned to look at Scott. He shrugged. "What can I say, the Sprout is right. It is hard to take you seriously when you look like Kermit is sitting on your head." With another laugh, he shut his door and headed off to bed.

Scott shook his head and headed towards his own room. He stopped just long enough to peek into Gordon's room, his big brother protective instincts overriding his need to get revenge. Seeing that Gordon appeared to be sleeping peacefully, he closed the door and headed off to bed. He'd deal with Gordon in the morning.

TBTBTBTBTB

As usual, Scott was the first of his brothers to awaken the next morning. Looking over at the clock and seeing it flashing 7:45am, he decided to get up and start the day. Walking into his bathroom with the thoughts of taking a shower, Scott stopped upon seeing his reflection and his green hair glaring back at him.

"I've got to figure out how to get back at him one of these days," Scott muttered to himself. Deciding not to take a shower and wash the dye out, so he can confront Gordon over it, Scott headed down to the kitchen for some coffee.

Almost as if on auto-pilot, Scott walked into the kitchen and straight to the coffee pot. He was so engrossed in his thoughts about how to pay Gordon back, that he didn't even realize that someone else is sitting at the kitchen table until he sat down.

"Do I even want to know?" a familiar voice asked.

Scott jumped in surprise and looked to his father. "Dad! When did you get back? We weren't expecting you until later this morning."

Jeff put down the paper he had been reading and looked at his eldest son, shaking his head at the green hair. "The conference finished early yesterday so I grabbed some sleep, woke up around midnight and headed home. I wanted to be here when you and the fellows came down for breakfast."

"You have no idea how glad I am to have you back home, Dad."

Jeff looked pointedly at Scott's head. "Ooohhh, I think I have a pretty good idea."

Scott frowned. "Well, if it wasn't for that gas fire that kept us out yesterday until we were ready to drop, you would probably be short one son this morning."

"I saw the news flash on television. It looked pretty intense for a while there. Everyone okay?"

"It was intense but the local fire crews were great in assisting us. No locals were hurt and we kept the fire under control so the town nearby is safe. No one was hurt . . . well not seriously anyway," Scott reported. Jeff raised an eyebrow at Scott.

"Virgil said Gordon may have overworked his back a bit. He sent him straight to bed and when I checked on him before I turned in, he seemed to be sleeping peacefully. We'll find out when he comes down." Scott sighed heavily. "Alan however . . ."

"What about Alan?" Jeff asked anxiously. "Is he alright?"

"He's fine, Dad. He got caught up in an explosion that threw him back a few yards. Virgil saw him land and said Alan hit the ground pretty hard. He's got a badly sprained wrist, but nothing else is wrong. Virgil x-rayed it and all is good."

Jeff sighed in relief. "That's good. Did Virgil wrap his wrist?"

Before Scott could answer, the brother in question stumbled in, cradling his wrist against his chest. Alan stopped short when he saw his father sitting at the table. "Welcome home, Dad."

"Thanks son. You doing okay?"

Alan shot Scott an exasperated look. "Yes Dad. I'm fine. My wrist is just a little stiff this morning."

"Well take it easy, okay? As long as we don't have any rescues, I want you to relax it as much as possible."

"I will Dad. I think the swelling is already going down, the ace wrap is a little loose."

Scott leaned over and carefully checked the bandage on Alan's wrist. He could feel that it was loose. "You want me to rewrap this?"

Alan winced a bit at Scott's probing. "Yeah. I thought about waiting until Virgil got up to ask him, but maybe you better."

Jeff himself winced when he saw Alan's wrist as Scott took the bandage off. It was still swollen and he had to wonder how bad it was before. "Maybe later, Alan, you can have Kyrano make you up an ice pack. That will help with the swelling."

"Sure thing Dad." Alan shot Scott a small smile as his brother finished rewrapping his wrist. "Thanks Scott. That's much better."

"No problem Squirt. You want some coffee?" Scott offered. At Alan's nod, he got up and poured his brother a cup, as well as freshened his own. He just turned to head back to the table when Virgil stumbled into the kitchen and dropped down into a chair. Alan nodded to Scott who set the cup of coffee he had made for Alan in front of Virgil. Scott grabbed another cup for Alan and joined the others.

"You're up unusually early," Scott commented.

Taking a sip of the hot brew, Virgil only threw a half-hearted glare towards Scott.

Jeff chuckled. "Good morning, son."

Virgil turned sleep heavy eyes towards his father and blinked to focus. "Dad?"

"Yes," Jeff waited amusedly while his son continued to wake up.

"I didn't think I slept _that_ late," Virgil frowned. Jeff joined Alan and Scott in laughing.

"You didn't." Jeff said no more knowing it was a mute point until Virgil was fully awake.

Virgil only grunted and went back to focusing on getting coffee into his system. Jeff was just about ready to get up and head to his office when the pounding sounds of his fourth son coming down the stairs could be heard. He decided to wait and see if he was going to have to keep his eldest from doing something harsh.

TBTBTBTBTB


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Scott leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms and glared at the doorway. Alan snickered at the sight of Scott trying to be tough, which was hard to take when looking at his green hair which had little tufts sticking up in various directions after Scott slept on it.

Not unexpected, Gordon breezed into the dining room in his usual over-exuberant way. Not for the first time, the Tracy family wondered if anything _ever_ got Gordon down.

"Good morning one and all!" he exclaimed happily. "Hey Dad! Welcome home. Virg, up early this morning, aren't we?" Gordon sat down and pointedly looked at Alan. Everyone at the table knew he was waiting to look at Scott last.

"How you doing kiddo? Wrist bothering you?"

Alan smiled and shook his head. "It's fine Gordon. Thank you for asking."

Gordon finally looked to his eldest brother and laughed. "Uhmmm, Scott? Forget to close your window again? I think Kermit got lost and decided to take up residence on your head."

Jeff, Alan and Virgil did their best not to laugh, but the snickers and chuckles were sneaking through. Scott only raised an eyebrow. With a tolerance he didn't know he possessed, Scott addressed his brother.

"Gordon, this is absolutely the last straw. You have drawn the battle lines and the war is about to begin."

Gordon amusedly nodded his head. "Uh huh. Sure Scott. And exactly what war is that?"

"Why the war of the pranksters, baby brother."

"Pranksters! Give me a break Scott." Gordon laughed. "You really think you can out prank me?"

"You better believe it, Gordo. I am going to get you with the ultimate prank," Scott challenged.

Gordon waggled his fingers at his brother. "Ooohhhhh. I'm soooo scared, here Scotty."

Scott got up from the table, walked over to the sink and put his coffee cup in it and then turned back to the table. He walked right up to Gordon's side and looked down at him. "Gordon, you won't know where, you won't know when and you definitely won't know how, but I promise you this. Sometime within the next few days I am going to get you but good for all the times you got me. I'm only going to get you with one prank, so you better be ready for it." With that said, he turned and walked out of the room.

Gordon looked thoughtful for a moment. "Do you really think he is going to try and pull it off?"

Jeff stood up and patted his son on the shoulder. "It's been nice knowing you son," he stated as he got up to walk out of the room. He paused just at the threshold and turned back to his family. "Keep the pranks from getting out of control and destroying the house please!"

Gordon looked to Alan. "Don't look at me, Gordon. I suspect Dad is going to be sending me up to Five to relieve John a week earlier since I can't do much with this," he indicated to his wrist.

Virgil finally appeared to wake up and looked at Alan. "I should probably rewrap that Alan. I'm sure some of the swelling has gone down overnight."

"Scott already did it for me. It was too loose and I wasn't sure how long you were going to sleep."

Virgil nodded. "Okay. But if Dad does decide to send you up to Five, let me know. I would rather you wear a wrist support bandage than an ace."

"Okay." Alan got up. "I'm going to go start packing just in case."

Virgil finally turned to Gordon. "Well. You did it this time, Gordo. I hope you're ready for this."

"Oh come on, Virg! You don't really think he's going to try and get back at me, do you?"

Virgil shook his head. "Gordon, in the past 3 days you dyed his hair green, changed his mouthwash to vinegar, short-sheeted his bed, changed the hot chocolate mix with powdered baker's chocolate, and changed all his computer settings. What makes you think he isn't going to want to get even?"

"I always pull those same pranks on him and he falls for them every time," Gordon exclaimed.

"Yeah, you do," agreed Virgil. "But not usually so many all at once. You pushed him too far this time Gordon."

"Yeah, but . . ."

Virgil interrupted. "Maybe if you had waited until we had a chance to get some rest after that last rescue, it would be different little brother. But between how long we were gone and Alan getting hurt, you're timing was just not right." He got up and headed out of the room, turning back around just before walking out the door. "Dad was right, it was nice knowing ya."

Gordon sat dumbfounded at the table for a few moments. He couldn't believe everyone was taking Scott's side on this. Not even Alan, his usual ally in the pranks. '_No way can he ever hope to out prank me.'_ He thought to himself. A sly smile suddenly lit his features. _'I'll just have to be extra cautious around him for a few days, that's all. Once he figures out he can't out prank he, he'll give up!'_

Figuring that he worked out the solution, Gordon whistled as he walked down to the Thunderbirds hangars to help with the cleanup from yesterday's rescue.

TBTBTBTBTB

It was a weary group of men that shuffled their way into the dining room that same day and sat down to eat a very late supper. Kyrano placed warm plates of food down in front of each person but everyone just stared at the plate in front of them.

"I can smell it and I'm starving," Scott complained. "But I don't think I can move." Kyrano took pity on them and removed the warming covers. Scott shot him a tired smile. "Thanks, Kyrano."

"You are most welcome, Mr. Scott. Has there been a problem that kept you all so late?" he inquired.

"It's all my fault," Alan whined and placed his head down on the table. "If I hadn't walked over by that pod leg we never would have been stuck down there all day."

"Alan," Virgil sighed. "If you hadn't walked over there none of us would have spotted that leak in the hydraulics until it was too late."

"That's right, Alan. The consequences could have been disastrous if Virgil had Two out on a rescue and couldn't raise her up to open the pod door," Jeff reminded his son.

"I know, dad. I know," Alan admitted. "It's just, who knew we would end up having to take apart that entire section of Two just to get to the hydraulics line."

Scott nodded. "I've got to agree with him on that one, dad. I know the hydraulics line has to be out of the way of the retractable legs, but that was downright ridiculous."

"What do you suggest, Scott? Just let the lines get in the way. Then we'd be replacing them all the time," Virgil shot back.

"Boys!" Jeff commanded. "We're all too tired and sore to get into this rationally. Let's wait until Brains comes back to discuss this and see if we can come up with an alternative. But for now, drop it."

Jeff no sooner got the words out when Alan accidentally dropped a glass of milk he had picked up with his right hand. It smashed on the floor. "Awww jeesh. I'm sorry Kyrano."

Kyrano stopped Alan from getting out of his chair to help clean it up. "No, Mister Alan. You finish eating. I will clean this up. It was an accident."

Jeff frowned at his youngest son. "Alan, is your wrist alright?"

Alan started to nod his head. "Tell him the truth, Alan," Gordon warned, knowing full well Alan over-exerted his wrist in helping to fix the leak. "Tell him or I will."

Too tired to argue, Alan replied. "No. It's swollen again and hurts when I move it."

Scott, who was sitting next to Alan leaned over and gently took his hand. "I'd say you hurt it worse than it was, Sprout. I can feel the heat just pouring off your wrist."

Virgil stood up. "Come on Alan. I want to x-ray it again."

"Can we finish eating first?" Alan sighed. "I'm starving."

Before Alan could even pick up a utensil, Scott grabbed his plate and cut up all the food into bite-sized pieces. Alan shot him a tired, yet exasperated look as Scott put it back in front of him. "I could have done that myself, you know."

"Don't argue with your brother, Alan," Jeff commented. "Virgil, if his wrist is worse than before, let me know if he needs to go see a doctor. You boys are too tired to be flying. I'll take him."

"Sure thing Dad."

Virgil and Gordon directed Alan towards the infirmary as soon as everyone was done eating. It was a testament to how tired he was and how sore his wrist was, that Alan didn't put up much more than a token protest.

Scott joined his father in his office for coffee. Jeff had just made contact with John as he walked in.

"Did you two just come back from an all night bender?"John joked. "It has to be the only explanation for Scott's new 'do." He could easily see how tired his father and brother were and pretty much guessed that Scott fell victim once again to Gordon.

"Just be glad you missed out on all the fun, John-boy," Scott shot back. "WE spent our day having to pull out and replace all the hydraulic lines on Thunderbird Two's port legs after Alan found a leak."

John winced in sympathy. "Not my idea of a fun way to spend the day."

"No kidding," Jeff agreed. "John, how are things looking up there?"

John frowned at the question but glanced over at his monitors to check. "Quiet, Dad. It's actually been unusually quiet on the emergency channels as well. Why? Is something wrong?"

Both Jeff and Scott sighed. "Nothing's wrong. I'm thinking about sending Alan up now to relieve you."

"Why? I've got another week to go before my rotation is up."

"Alan hurt his wrist on that last rescue and may have done more damage to it helping fix the hydraulic leak," explained Scott.

"Virgil is x-raying it now. If it's not broken, I'd like to send him up there," Jeff said. "He's less likely to hurt it up on Five than down here."

"How bad is his wrist?" John asked concern evident in his eyes.

Scott shrugged. "It looks like a really bad sprain."

"Poor kid," John shook his head. "Well. Unless there's a major earthquake or forest fire somewhere waiting to happen, it should be pretty quiet for a few days."

Jeff nodded. "I'm going to see if Virgil is done yet so I can let you know. I'll be right back." Scott sat down in the chair as his father left.

John chuckled and shook his head as he looked at Scott's hair. "So how many does that make this time?"

"Too many," grumbled Scott. "Another reason why we need you down here."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I threatened Gordon with payback sometime within the next five days."

John snorted. "YOU? Come on Scott. You have never, _ever_ been able to pull a successful prank on Gordon."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence _brother_," Scott replied sarcastically. "You're as bad as Virgil in the support department."

"Sorry!" John chuckled again. "What have you got in mind so far? Maybe I can think up a few things while waiting to see what Dad wants to do."

"Don't really know," Scott shrugged. "Like you said, planning paybacks aren't my forte."

"You're problem, Scott, is that you tend to over think everything. It makes you a great Field Commander, but a lousy prankster."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!"

John shook his head amusedly. "Scott, think back on all the pranks Gordon pulls, especially on you. Most of the time, he pulls the same ones all the time, just varies them a bit. Sure, he's pulled some elaborate pranks that took some planning, but if you break those down, you'll find that most of them contain a combination of his favorite pranks."

Scott sat back and looked at his brother in amazement. "How did you figure that out?"

John shrugged and gestured around him. "What? You guys think I spend ALL my time star gazing when the rescue front is slow?" He grinned as he watched Scott's eyes narrow.

"John. If I find out you've been helping Gordon play pranks on me,"

"Hold on there, Scooter. Honest. I haven't been helping Gordon at all. In case you've forgotten, Gordon tends to prank me quite a bit as well. I think through his pranks to try and figure out if there was some way I could have caught on before hand."

Scott tilted his head to one side. "Did you figure it out?"

"Nah," John shook his head.

Scott was about to respond when Jeff came back into his office. "How's Alan?" he asked.

"His wrist is only badly sprained," Jeff told them. "John, Virgil wants Alan to wait at least one day before replacing you."

"Not a problem, Dad. That works out fine for me. There's some cosmic activity going on that I've been keeping an eye on. This will give me an extra day to watch it."

Jeff and Scott exchanged knowing smiles. "Okay John. While you're at it, why don't you make up a supply list for what Alan will need. Tin-Tin is flying back from her vacation on the mainland tomorrow and she can pick up anything he'll need."

"Shouldn't be anything more than the usual stuff," John replied after quickly thinking through the supplies on board. "You might want to consider getting Alan foods that are easy to microwave or fix up."

Jeff nodded. "I think Kyrano has already considered that and was calling Tin-Tin when I sought him out. He's way ahead of me as usual."

John and Scott chuckled, both knowing that there was very little that went on at Tracy Island that Kyrano did not know about.

"Okay, John. Let's play it by ear and see how Alan's wrist is doing in 24 hours. If Virgil thinks he can handle being on Five, we'll send him up."

"Sure thing, Dad," John agreed. He looked off to the side for a moment. Jeff and Scott could see him smile. "Gotta go. There's some cosmic stuff happening." John signed off before they could respond.

Jeff only shook his head at the now blank screen. Scott came up behind his dad and put a hand on his shoulder. "Dad, are you sure that John wasn't switched at birth with an alien child?"

"Watch it, Mister," Jeff sternly replied, however Scott could easily hear the underlying amusement in the tone. "You forget that at one time, I probably would have done the same thing."

Scott laughed as he headed out of the office. "Of course, how could I forget. I mean, John would have had to pick up his space case ideology somewhere."

TBTBTBTBTB


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

The earthbound members of the Tracy family all took advantage of the lack of rescues to catch up on their rest, get some work done on the 'birds that needed taking care of, or in Jeff's case, catching up on some Tracy Industries paperwork. Virgil, on several occasions, had to remind Alan to take it easy with his wrist. For his part, it only took a few twinges of pain for Alan to heed Virgil's words.

It was growing close to dinnertime, or at least that's what Scott's rumbling stomach was telling him. He knew they were planning on delaying it a bit as Tin-Tin had radioed in to tell them she would be landing within 30 minutes and all hands would be needed to unload the supplies. She relayed that she had stopped off at the family's favorite local bakery and pick up some of the pizza that the family loved so much for them to have for dinner. The brothers had discovered the pizza on a trip to the mainland. The owner, a long-time friend of the family decided to try his hand at making pizza using a special bread crust. It was an instant hit with his customers and he had a hard time keeping ahead of the demand. The Tracy boys loved it so much because it was a break from the normally healthy foods that Kyrano served.

Jeff had come down to join his boys as they lounged by the pool. He was sitting in a chair next to Scott when the unmistaken sounds of his eldest son's rumbling stomach could be heard.

"Scott, why don't you go to the kitchen and make a salad for dinner," Jeff chuckled. "You can eat some veggies while doing it and hush that stomach up a bit."

"But we're having pizza for dinner!"

Jeff raised an eyebrow as he looked at Scott. "Yes, but it's not all you're going have. A salad is a nice side dish and will help fill up that bottomless pit of yours."

"Alright. I'll go make up a salad for everyone." Scott got up to head into the kitchen when the sounds of an approaching airplane could be heard.

"Scott, why don't you turn the ovens on as well. That way, they'll be pre-heated by the time Kyrano is ready to put the pizzas in," Jeff told his son as he headed towards the office to clear Tin-Tin for landing. "Virgil, Gordon, time to head down to the runway and be ready to unload. Not you Alan!"

"Come on Gordon," Virgil called to his brother. "I'll get the supply cart and meet you there."

As they left, Scott walked up to Alan and put an arm around his shoulder. "Come on, Sprout. You can help me set the table."

"Oh joy!" Alan replied sarcastically. "I don't know, Scott. My wrist is pretty sore."

Scott grinned knowingly. "Forget it, kiddo. There is nothing wrong with your left hand."

"Oh well. Can't blame a guy for trying."

TBTBTBTBTB

Gordon walked into the kitchen just in time to see Scott placing bowls of salad at everyone's place. He stepped back out of view to watch his older brother. Scott turned to get one more bowl off the counter and placed it in front of the spot Gordon usually sits in. His eyes narrowed as he listened to the conversation between Alan and Scott.

"_I'm telling you, Scott. He's not going to fall for it."_

"_Well what would you suggest I do then? I'm not admitting defeat!"_

_Gordon could hear Alan laugh. "I'm not asking you to, dummy."_

Grinning to himself, Gordon headed back up the stairs to wait for everyone to come down for dinner.

It was only about a 15 minute wait before Gordon decided to head down to the dining room. When he arrived, everyone was sitting down and he slid into his spot. He eyed his salad carefully, picking up a small amount with the fork and sniffing at it.

"I assure you, the vegetables are quite fresh, Mr. Gordon," Kyrano told the young man.

"I'm sure they are Kyrano. Just enjoying the smell of fresh food," Gordon explained. He happened to glance over at Scott who quickly hid a smirk as Gordon looked ready to eat the salad. Gordon lowered his fork and as fast as he could, grabbed Alan's bowl of salad and switched it with his.

"What are you doing!" Alan exclaimed. He had just brought his fork down to stab some vegetables when Gordon pulled the bowl away, causing Alan to scrap his fork across the crystal plate beneath it.

Gordon grinned. "Sorry! Just thought you might like to have more salad since you'll be going up on Five soon and won't have any. I think my bowl had more in it."

Alan rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Virgil and Jeff traded amused looks; Scott only shook his head at his brother's antics.

Gordon watched as Alan pierced some food and brought it up to eat it. He looked over to Scott, who happened to be looking at Alan. Half expecting Scott to shout out a warning, Gordon was poised to stop his brother from eating his salad. When Scott said nothing, Gordon frowned and looked down at his bowl. A glimmer of realization struck.

"HA!" Gordon shot at Scott, then quickly traded bowls with Alan once again.

"Gordon, just what exactly are you doing!" Jeff demanded. "Eat your own food and leave Alan's alone. Good grief. I haven't had to reprimand you for that in years."

Gordon only grinned in triumph. "Thought you could pull a fast one on me, eh Scott?"

"What are you talking about," Scott wanted to know.

"I saw you," accused Gordon. Scott traded a puzzled look with Virgil.

"Saw him do what?" Virgil wanted to know.

"I saw him place my salad bowl down last, don't deny it. I saw you do it."

Scott chuckled. "Of course I won't deny it. I can't hold all the salad bowls at once you know."

"Yeah. But I saw it, you made sure to put mine down last, and you had to know I saw it. So you put the bad salad on my plate, knowing I'd see it and switch with Alan. But when Alan got ready to it eat and you didn't warn him, then I knew. I KNEW. You actually put the bad salad on Alan's plate, so when I switched the first time, I had it, but by not warning him about it, you made me think it was right the first time and I switched it back. So THERE!"

Scott, Virgil and Alan all traded puzzled looks with each other. "I'm not even going to try and figure out that convoluted logic," Jeff said, shaking his head.

"Gordon, there is nothing wrong with the salad," Scott declared. "No one has anything different than anyone else. What is your problem?"

Gordon only shook his head. "Nope. Not buying it. You put something in my salad. Pepper maybe. Or vinegar instead of salad dressing. You can't fool me. Nope. I'm not eating it."

Alan finally sighed. "Gordon, there's only one problem with your logic. Scott didn't make the salad. I DID. And I'm the one that put them in the bowls. Not Scott. He just set them on the table. Can we get back to eating now?"

"Sure Al. Go ahead." Gordon sat back and smugly crossed his arm. "Day one is just about over and its Scott 0 Gordon 1. I caught you trying to prank me."

Scott opened his mouth to protest when Jeff shot him a warning glance. Well versed in what his father's glances meant, Scott shut up and quickly went back to eating. _'Okay, let Gordon think he won this time. I'll get him good. I just have to figure out how.'_

TBTBTBTBTB

It was early the next morning when Scott jogged up the steps towards the swimming pool. He had just completed his morning run and was enjoying the peace of this time of day. He heard the sound of a motorboat leaving the island. Frowning, he ran to the top of the path that leads down to the docks and saw a boat pulling away. He was about to run to try and see if he could recognize it when he saw Kyrano coming up the path, carrying a box.

"It is alright, Mr. Scott," Kyrano assured him. "That was Mr. Barun. I had ordered some meats but they were not ready for pickup when Tin-Tin was there yesterday. He brought them out as he was making other deliveries in the area."

Scott moved to help Kyrano bring the crate up near the pool. "That's quite a distance to travel with meat, Kyrano. Won't some of it be spoiled by now?"

As Kyrano began to answer, he slipped on a wet tile by the pool. He dropped his end of the crate, causing it break open. Both men watched as a few bricks of ice dropped into the pool. "Oops," Scott said.

"It is only dry ice," Kyrano told him. "It will melt in the pool and should be safe as long as no one swims near it."

Scott glanced at his watch. He nodded. "Gordon isn't due for his morning swim for about another 30 minutes. It should be melted by then."

Kyrano had been picking up the wrapped meat from the broken crate. Scott stooped down to help him. "Kyrano, you get this meat inside. I'll clean up the crate and throw it away."

Kyrano bowed as he stood up. "Thank you, Mr. Scott."

Scott had just gotten the last pieces of splintered wood picked up and headed towards the garbage area when Gordon walked out of the house. By now, the dry ice had started filling the pool with a fog-like substance. Gordon walked up to the pool and tried to peer into the water. Scott came back at that moment and Gordon pounced.

"HA! Caught you again, big brother!" he exclaimed gleefully.

"What are you talking about now?"

Gordon waved his hand at the pool. "Okay, so what would have happened if I jumped in? Will my skin turn purple?"

Scott looked at the pool and saw the fog from the dry ice. "No Gordon. Nothing will happen if you jump in. Just avoid the shallow end for a bit, we dropped some dry ice in it. "

Gordon sidled up next to his brother and grinned. "Why don't you just admit it Scott? I caught you before your prank could go off because I came down earlier than I normally do."

Scott moved past his brother, shaking his head. "Whatever, Gordon."

Gordon just continued to grin, thinking that his plan to be more aware of Scott's movements was paying off.

TBTBTBTBTB

The sun was starting its final descent across the sky when Jeff Tracy decided it was time to take a break from the never ending paperwork he had to deal with. If he was honest to himself, it was the peacefulness of the household that was pulling him away. It was _too_ quiet and Jeff found himself chuckling, thinking that for most people, that would be a godsend. In his household, it usually meant big trouble.

The only interruption to his day had been shortly after lunch when Scott stormed into his office and slumped down on the sofa.

_Startled slightly by the heavy footfalls of someone walking into his office, Jeff turned just in time to see his eldest son drop onto the sofa and sigh heavily. He eyed his son critically. The first thing he noticed was that Scott's hair was no longer green, although if the light hit it just right a slight green tinge could still be spotted on some of the strands. _

"_Something wrong son?"_

_Scott, who had laid his head down against the back of the sofa, shook his head. "Not exactly."_

"_Gordon still at it?" Jeff surmised he guessed correct when Scott grimaced._

"_He's gone off the deep end, Dad. He thinks everything thing I'm doing has an ulterior motive."_

_Jeff chuckled. "Can you blame him, Scott? He's waiting for the shoe to drop."_

"_I know Dad, but honestly! I went to the bathroom a little while ago and he was convinced I put something into the septic system that would cause his a . . . ahem, his butt to turn a different color. I can't even sit and listen to Virgil playing the piano without him thinking I'm just waiting for him to walk into a prank."_

"_Alright son. I'll speak to him in a bit and have him back off a bit."_

_Scott shot a cocky grin at his father. "Of course, it is kinda fun watching him jump at just about everything he touches."_

That conversation had been over 3 hours ago and Jeff hadn't heard a sound once Scott left his office. Wondering what might be up, Jeff got up and walked to the windows of his office that overlooked the pool area. From there, he could see Gordon swimming laps in the pool. Alan was laying on a lounger in the sun chatting to Tin-Tin and Virgil.

Not seeing Scott around, and realizing it was close to dinnertime, Jeff walked into the kitchen where he found Kyrano preparing the evening meal.

"Good evening, Mr. Tracy," greeted the smaller man. "Can I get you something?"

Jeff snagged some celery off the tray that Kyrano was fixing up. "No. I was just looking for Scott."

"Mr. John called him on his wristcom a short while ago and he headed down towards the lab. I believe he may be with Mr. Brains."

"Thanks Kyrano," Jeff frowned. "I'll head down there and make sure nothing is wrong."

Heading quickly down to Brain's lab, Jeff could hear the mumbled voices of two of his sons and Brains and they appeared to be discussing a problem. He made sure to knock on the door as he walked in, learning from past experience that it sometimes wasn't wise to catch Brains off-guard, lest you may end up with part of an experiment decorating your clothing.

"Something up?" Jeff asked. He looked at John's face in the monitor and could tell his middle son was slightly stressed about something. Looking then towards Scott, he could see the same concern in his eyes.

"I'm afraid so, Dad, and you're not going to like it" John admitted.

"What's wrong?"

John traded a glance with Scott, who gave him a nod of encouragement. "I decided something wasn't right with how quiet it was on the rescue front. I mean even local emergency bands were a bit too quiet. So I switched the monitoring system over to another station on Five and it was like someone turned on a Christmas tree."

Jeff's eyes narrowed at the implication. "Do you mean to tell me the system has been down for the past few days and it was never noticed!"

"I'm afraid so, Dad," John replied apologetically. "It's my fault. I ran diagnostic sweeps but the system kept coming back saying everything was fine. I should have done something more . . ."

Jeff cut him off. "Never mind that now John. Can you tell if we missed anything important and are we needed now?"

"That's the weird part of all this, Dad. The automatic recordings kicked in whenever we got a call, but for some reason the call never made it through to me. I checked the recordings and any requests that came in were minor. I probably would have called local rescue services anyway."

"Well that's good to know," Scott replied.

"And as far as I can tell, there's nothing major happening. The west coast of the US has been dealing with some minor earthquakes, but nothing above a 3.0."

"Brains, any idea of what could be the problem?" Jeff asked his resident genius. He frowned when Brains didn't reply right away and then realized that the man was totally immersed in whatever it was he was working on. It was Scott that answered for him.

"Brains said he had an idea and has had Johnny checking out various circuits, but he won't know for sure until he can get up to Five and check things out."

"Okay then," Jeff nodded. "Scott, why don't you get Thunderbird Three ready for launch? I believe Kyrano has the food supplies all ready to go."

"Yep," Scott nodded. "Already at the loading arm and ready for upload."

"Are we going to do the switch over between me and Alan?" John wanted to know.

"Yes, son. He's all packed and ready to come up. I think for once, he's actually looking forward to his shift up there."

Brains sat up straight suddenly and only then realized that Jeff had been in the room. "Oh . . . Mr. . . Mr. Tracy. . . I will need to g . . .g . . fly up to Five right away. I be . . .be . . .think I may have to re . . .rewire some of the com . . .coms systems."

"I know Brains. Scott and John told me. Three is ready for launch. Just get together whatever you will need and Scott will fly you up."

"Gre. . . Great! I'll . . . be ready in about 30 minutes . . . Sc . . .Scott." Brains moved to another part of his lab and started tossing tools into a box.

"I'll go get Alan rounded up and head on over to Three," Scott said.

Jeff nodded. "I'll be waiting to hear what's going on as soon as you arrive, son." With that said, he left and headed towards the control room.

Scott just shared a shrug with John, who was still on video feed from Five. "See you in a bit bro!"

John chuckled as Scott left the room. He deactivated the video feed and set about preparing for his switchover with Alan.

TBTBTBTBTB


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Scott headed towards his bedroom to change into his uniform, after informing Alan they would be leaving shortly. He stopped short at the end of the hallway as he noticed the wet towel, flip-flops and t-shirt leaving a trail from the steps towards Gordon's room. He shook his head, more in exasperation at Gordon's untidiness than anything else. As usual, he scooped up the items and headed towards Gordon's bedroom.

"Gordon! Would you please not leave your wet mess all over the hallway," complained Scott. Not getting an answer, he knocked on Gordon's door. Still not getting an answer, Scott opened the door and peeked inside. "Gordon? Did you hear me?"

Realizing that Gordon wasn't in his bedroom, Scott walked in and headed towards the bathroom. He tossed Gordon's wet items in the bathtub and walked out. He had just closed the door and headed down towards his own room when Gordon came walking up the stairs. He stooped down on the top step and watched his eldest brother leave.

"_Gee Scotty. Caught you once again trying to get one over on me," Gordon thought to himself. _

Waiting until Scott entered his own room and shut the door, Gordon walked slowly towards his own bedroom door. Before attempting to touch the doorknob, Gordon carefully inspected the door to see if anything appeared amiss. Not seeing anything unusual, he stood off to the side and cautiously reached over and turned the doorknob. With a slight push, he opened the door a fraction and flattened himself against the wall at the same time.

Nothing happened.

Peering cautiously once again around the frame of the door, he tried to see as much inside his room as he could without opening up the door any further. Still not seeing anything, he decided to risk opening the door even further. He stood back by the side with the hinges and gently pushed the door open a bit further using his foot.

Still, nothing happened.

Gordon dropped down to his hands and knees and was leaning up against the door frame, trying to look at the top of the door, inside his room, when Scott walked out of his room. Virgil walked out of his room at the same time and the two stood and stared at Gordon.

"What _are_ you doing?" Virgil wanted to know. "Oh wait, don't tell me. You've decided to start playing secret agent again."

Scott chuckled. "Oh no! Not that again."

Gordon stood up and frowned. "Very funny guys. But once again, I foiled an attempt of Scott's to try and pull a prank on me."

"Gordon!" Scott sighed. "I haven't had the time to even think of a prank to pull. I'm getting ready to fly Alan up to Five and help do some repair work on the communications system. What makes you think I have time for pranks?"

"Because I saw you coming out of my bedroom not ten minutes ago," Gordon accused.

"Of course you did. I went in there to throw _your_ wet, dirty clothes in your bathtub. You've been warned about leaving them in the hallway like that. These floors aren't carpeted and someone could trip and fall on a wet spot."

"Not to mention the wet clothes will ruin the floor," Virgil added.

Gordon shrugged. "Grandma called me downstairs and I was getting cold with the wet shirt and towel wrapped around me."

"So you just took them off and dropped them on the floor!" Scott cried out in disbelief. "What are you – five years old again?"

"Cute Scott. You're just angry because whatever prank you decided to pull on me isn't going to work. Once more, I have foiled your attempts," Gordon stated triumphantly.

"Scott? You ready to leave?" Alan's voice could be heard calling up from downstairs.

"Coming Al!" Scott called back. "Virge, see if you can talk some sense into this idiot while I'm gone."

"Alan. You call me if you have any problems with your wrist. You got it?" Virgil warned.

"Yeah, yeah." Virgil heard his brother mutter in reply.

Scott turned and headed down towards his baby brother. The two then headed off to the couch that would take them directly to Thunderbird Three's silo. After watching them leave, Virgil turned to Gordon.

"Gordon. What the hell is the matter with you lately?"

"Nothing is wrong with me, Virgil," Gordon shrugged. "I'm just not going to let Scotty out-prank me, that's all."

Virgil sighed in frustration. "Gordon. Scott wasn't kidding when he said he hasn't had the time to even think up a prank. And now, he's probably going to be gone at least half the day working with Brains and John on trying to get Five's communication system fixed."

Gordon only grinned and rubbed his hands together. "So that means I've survived two whole days without Scott being able to best me. Being that he'll probably be exhausted when he gets home and will be debriefing with John and Father tomorrow, I'll probably get through half the day before he tries anything. I'm going to win this bet!"

Virgil only threw his hands up in frustration, growled and walked away. "Whatever Gordon. Whatever."

TBTBTBTBTB

While en-route to Thunderbird Five, Brains had been scouring over the blueprints trying to figure out what the problem could be. Not coming up with any solution, he sighed in frustration.

"Sc. . .Scott?"

"Yes Brains?"

"How cl . . . close are we?"

"We should be docking in about five minutes," Alan responded.

Brains came forward to the control deck. "Is . . .is . . .would it be . . .po . . .possible to do a . . .flyby of the communications . . .a . . array? I'd like to ch . . .check on that first."

Alan looked over at Scott, who nodded. "Sure Brains. How close do you need me to get?"

"As cl . . .close as you can, Sc. . .Scott."

Scott frowned as he thought ahead to the maneuvering that would be required. Alan chuckled at the expressions on his older brother's face.

"Need some help with that Scott?"

Scott smiled ruefully at his baby brother. "I just may Al," he admitted.

Alan laughed. "Okay, the easiest way to do this would be to line the nose of Three with the main observation windows and then slowly descend until we can see the array."

"That sounds easy enough," replied Scott.

"Easy as . . .as long as you re. . .remember that you have to be fa . . . far enough away from the st. . . station so as not to hit it," Brains remarked.

At Scott's glare, Brains turned back in the cabin and sat down. Alan laughed again. "Don't worry Scott. I'll make sure you're far enough back. I don't think John would appreciate being tossed around while we are trying to do this."

"_He most certainly would not,"_ John's voice came over their radio.

"You breaking contact protocol now John?" Scott demanded, however his tone of voice had a smile to it.

"_No. You guys are. You're supposed to contact Five whenever you decide to change flight plans at the last minute. Remember?" John teased._

Scott looked over at Alan and mouthed 'oops'. "Sorry John. Brains asked us to check the communications array at the last minute."

"_Oops my ass, big brother. I'll make sure Gordon hears about this one."_

Alan, Brains and Scott all frowned at their radio. "John, how did you know I said oops to Alan?" Scott wondered.

"_Well Duh big brother. I can see you."_ John suddenly frowned. _"Why do you ask?"_

"Because we can't see you John," Alan told him. "All we're getting is voice feed."

"_Damn," John muttered. "Guess that's another item to add to the To Do list Brains."_

"Hold that though John," Alan interrupted. "We've arrived and Scott is lined up to view the array."

Brains inched forward to get a better view as Scott slowly brought Thunderbird Three close to Five. There was a moment when they descended past the observation windows and could see John waving to them, his eyes big in mock terror at how close Scott had managed to get the 'bird.

Scott never noticed as he was in deep concentration as to what he was doing. Alan only offered up a quick chuckle but then turned an expert eye on how Scott was managing the controls. He felt a moment of frustration that he wasn't at the controls, but then remembered that maneuvering such as this required a set of firm hands on the controls and right now, his bad wrist would be too much of a liability.

Scott breathed a sigh of relief as the communications array came into sight, then frowned when he realized what he was seeing.

"Damn," Alan muttered. Brains only nodded and then sat back down to review the plans once more.

"_What's up guys?" John asked. He heard Alan's response and Scott's silence was just as telling._

Instead of answering, Alan turned to Scott. "We need to see how far it goes. Can you edge her down just a bit more and then in a bit closer to Five?"

"Think so, kiddo. Hang on," Scott's firm grip on the controls soon had the red 'bird moved into a better position to view the damage.

"_Guyyyyssss?" John again asked, his tone growing more worried._

"Sorry John," Scott replied. "I think we found out what is wrong with communications. It looks like a section of the array exploded or something and there's exposed wiring and scorch marks around it."

"_WHAT!" John exclaimed. "There's no way something like that could happen and I not notice it."_

"Jo. . . John, when did the pr . . .problems with the com . . . communications start?" Brains asked. There was a few moments of silence while John thought about the question.

"_Remember when Dad had us put Five on automatic because of that flood rescue we had about two weeks ago? I thought at first that maybe something with the routing was messed up, but everything kept checking out fine."_

Brains nodded. "I would su . . .suggest you bring up the . . . recording lo . . .logs for the diagnostics that we . .were run auto . . .automatically while Five was un . . unmanned."

"_Okay Brains. I'll have them up by the time you get in here."_

"So what do you think Brains?" Scott wondered. "Do you think something short-circuited inside Five that we can't easily see?"

Alan, who had been looking intently at the damage, replied. "I don't think so Scott. Look at the scorch marks on the side. It starts out small and then gets bigger, almost as if something collided with Five."

"Of course, Al . . .Alan!" Brains exclaimed. "I remember Jo . . . John mentioning about the nu . . .number of meteorites that were fl . . .floating around whe. . .when he returned. The ar. . . array was probably hi . . .hit by one of them."

Alan remembered flying John back up to Five. "You're right Brains. If I remember correctly, some of those rocks did look pretty big."

"_You may be onto something Brains," John's voice came back. "I just got the first printout and it does look like something had struck the station. I'm not positive, but the readings almost make it look like whatever it was bounced or skidded across the hull."_

"I don't understand," Scott interrupted. "If it was debris just floating around, how could they cause that much damage?"

Brains shook his head. "Mo . . .most likely Sc . . Scott, a passing meteor that mig. . .might have been moving qu . . .quickly could have ca. . . cast off a pie . . .piece of itself. If it was mo . . .moving at the same . . .speed, that co . . .could explain the damage."

"Great. Just great," Scott replied sarcastically. "Well, let's get this 'bird docked so we can figure out what to do."

TBTBTBTBTB

Scott, Alan and Brains found John sitting in the kitchen area with diagnostic readouts spread out over the table. He was frowning at several of them, but looked up as they came in.

"We were right. In checking out the dates and times on the diagnostics, it looks like a small meteor storm blew through while Five was on automatic," John explained. He held out one readout to Brains and pointed to it. "See what showed up on diagnostics?"

Brains read it and frowned as well. "From th . . . this reading, it a . .appears that a meteor ab . . .about the size of a so . . . softball hit the array."

Alan groaned. "Big enough to do some damage, but not enough to completely destroy it."

"Exactly, Al . . Alan."

"What about the array? Is it a total loss?" John asked.

Scott shrugged. "I'm not sure. It was too hard to see the whole thing without worrying about crashing Three into the side."

An incoming signal interrupted their conversation and John ran back to the control room. "Come in Base," he responded when he saw the call was coming in from Tracy Island.

Jeff's face appeared. "Hadn't heard from you boys and I was starting to get worried."

"Sorry Dad," Scott apologized. The four of them quickly brought Jeff up to speed on what they had discovered thus far.

"Brains, is it possible to bring the satellite and communications array inside Five without having to send one of the boys outside to get it?" Jeff asked.

"Oh yes, Mr. Tracy," Brains assured him.

"Yeah, Dad. It was something Brains, Alan and I worked up when we upgraded the system last year," John explained. "We designed it for just this type of circumstance. We can remotely retract the satellite into a bay area, close the hull off and pressurize the bay. None of us will even have to put on a spacesuit."

Jeff nodded. "Good. Bring her in and see if the repairs could be completed while you're up there. Hopefully, the repairs are minor enough that you won't have to bring it back to base."

TBTBTBTBTB

It wasn't as easy as John made it sound in his explanation to his father, but Brains, John, Alan and Scott were able to get the array inside the bay area and determined that they could fix the unit on Five and then Brains would stay up a few extra days to help Alan repair any damage done to the system internally. Jeff, while glad that the damage wasn't so bad that the unit had to be replaced, he wasn't happy that most of the team was up on Five. Thunderbird Five was still able to monitor incoming calls and the emergency communications band, but it was on a lower frequency than normally used and Jeff was afraid that they miss an important call. For that reason, he had Penny issue a bulletin to all Emergency Services that International Rescue was out of service for 24 hours. It would at least give them some time to fix their problems.

It was almost the full 24 hours later before Scott and John found themselves back on Thunderbird Three and heading for home.

"I'm sure glad to finally be heading home," Scott sighed in exhaustion. "I've felt more like an overworked mechanic the past few days, then a rescue person."

John chuckled as he piloted Thunderbird Three towards home. "Yeah, I imagine doing all that hard work instead of sitting on your bottom giving commands is a bit hard on the body."

Scott frowned at his brother. "Very funny, John." Scott suddenly moaned. "I only hope Gordon hasn't decided to set up a prank for either of us. In my state of mind, I'd probably kill him."

John reached over and patted Scott on the arm. "Don't worry big brother. I spoke to Dad while you were helping Brains and Alan get settled in. Dad promised he would make sure Gordon has no surprises set up for either of us."

"You got Dad to take sides?" Scott was surprised.

"Not really. But you know he is going to want a full debrief on all this right away and it won't happen if we're both trying to kill Gordon."

"I only hope he'll let us get something to eat first," Scott grumbled. "I'm starving! I don't know how you and Alan can live on that boxed food for an entire month."

"We can't. Haven't you noticed how we both eat almost non-stop when we first get back on firm ground?" John asked.

Scott shrugged. "Not really. Trade-off's are usually done right around a meal so I just figured you guys skipped it getting ready."

John only shook his head as he contacted Tracy Island for clearance to land. No wonder Gordon found it so easy to pull pranks on Scott. How could his eldest brother be so in control during rescues, but becomes completely clueless once home again?

TBTBTBTBTB


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

The first site to greet Scott and John as the couch slid back into place in their father's office was Grandma Tracy, standing with her hands on her hips and tapping her toe on the floor.

"You boys go get changed and get back here right away," she commanded as soon as the couch was locked in place. "I've kept dinner warm for you and I'll bring it in here so you can eat a decent meal. Jefferson, don't you dare start to debrief them until they have eaten."

Jeff stood up and went over to his sons. "Welcome home John," he greeted his son with a hug. "Now go on boys," Jeff grinned. "You heard the boss."

Grinning, they left the room. Scott stopped just as the door and turned to his father. "Do I need to worry about anything Gordon might have left for me?"

Jeff smiled and shook his head. "He's been duly warned and threatened. Besides, those new ballast control computer chips for Four came in and he's got her down at the boathouse replacing them and running tests. He'll be busy for a few hours.

Scott sighed in relief. "Yah! Thanks dad. Back in a few."

TBTBTBTBTBTB

It was close to 10pm before Scott, John and Jeff finally emerged from Jeff's office. They had conferenced in Brains and Alan and were carefully going through the repairs and making sure everything was in good working order.

Jeff finally called it quits after feeling comfortable that the problem was resolved. He signed off with Thunderbird Five and turned to John and Scott.

"Why don't you two call it a night? You look exhausted," Jeff commented.

"That sounds like a good idea to me," John agreed. He stood up and started to leave and Scott followed.

"Dad, what about calling Lady P and having her inform the services that we're back online?" Scott suddenly remembered.

Jeff looked at his watch and calculated that it would be in the afternoon in London. "I'll take care of it fellows. Go on. Go to bed."

They left as Jeff turned to call Penny, bumping into Virgil who was just coming out of the lounge where he had been playing piano.

"That was a monster debrief," he commented as he followed his brothers up to the bedroom area.

"No kidding," John yawned. "Seems like Dad wanted a recap of every single step we did."

"Everything's okay now, right?" Virgil asked.

Scott nodded as he too yawned. "Yep. Dad was calling Penny as we left to let her know we're back on active status.

Reaching their bedrooms, Scott and John were about to open their doors when they both stopped, looked at each other and then looked at Virgil.

"Nothing to worry about," Virgil chuckled. "Dad AND Grandma read Gordon the riot act about trying to pull anything on you two today. I should warn you though Scott. Gordon's preening because he thinks he won the game."

Scott only shook his head. "I'm too tired to think about that now Virg. I'll deal with it tomorrow." He waved to his brothers and shut the door as he went into his room.

"Has it been that bad?" John wondered.

Virgil chuckled. "Not really. No pranks have been pulled but Gordon sure has been jumpy for the past few days. Poor Scott couldn't even go to the bathroom without Gordon thinking he was trying to set up a prank. Gordon hasn't given Scott a moment's piece, thinking that everything Scott did was going to result in a prank."

John smiled. "Wish I'd been here to see it."

"Oh, you'll see it tomorrow morning at breakfast," Virgil assured him. "Gordon is literally preening."

"I can't wait! Well, night Virgil."

"Night John. Oh, and John?"

John turned and looked questioningly at Virgil. "Yeah."

Virgil walked up to him and gave him a hug. "Welcome home."

John returned the hug and both headed off to bed.

TBTBTBTBTB

It was a much refreshed Scott Tracy that walked into the kitchen the next morning, followed closely by John and their father. Good mornings were exchanged as the men sat down at the table.

"Welcome home, Mr. John," Kyrano greeted as he poured coffee for them.

"Thanks Kyrano," John returned. "I am starving and so looking forward to a month of home cooked meals. Where's Grandma and Tin-Tin?"

Kyrano bowed and then started placing the breakfast platters on the table. "They have left for a day of shopping at the mainland." He just placed the last platter as Virgil came in, more awake than anyone in the family had ever seen him first thing in the morning.

"Heads up guys. Gordon is strutting like a peacock this morning," he warned as he sat down. "Morning by the way."

Scott could only mutter a "great" before Gordon once again breezed into the kitchen in his normal exuberant manner.

"Good morning one and all," he sang out. He ran around the table to John and hugged him. "Welcome home Blondie!"

John chuckled. "Thanks Gordon. Care to tell me what has you in such a good mood?"

Gordon sat down and beamed. "Only if Scott is willing to admit to defeat."

"How can I admit defeat when I haven't had a chance to do anything yet!" Scott exclaimed.

"Sure Scott. You just don't want to admit that I was able to catch you before you were able to set up any pranks."

Scott slumped back, totally exasperated at his younger brother. "Gordon!"

"Hold on a second Scott," John jumped in. "Did you set a timeframe on when you'd get back at him?"

Scott shook his head. "No. I just said sometime within the next few days; and that was FOUR days ago!"

"Okay. And Gordon, you're saying that you caught Scott trying to set up numerous pranks on you?" John continued.

"Yep, although he is trying to claim they weren't pranks, just coincidences."

"Okay. Let me ask you another question Gordon. When you set up a prank on one of us, what is the thing you like the most?"

Jeff, Virgil, Scott all leaned forward wondering where John was going with this. Even Kryano stopped working at the stove and looked on with interest.

Gordon frowned. "I'm not quite sure what you mean, Johnny?"

"Do you like it when the prank is actually sprung, or the anticipation you feel leading up to it?"

Gordon smiled. "Oh, that's easy. I like the anticipation leading up to it. It's fun to sit and wait for the prank to happen. Why?"

John smiled and looked over at Scott in appreciation. "So you won after all. Scott, I never thought you had it in you."

Scott shared a look with Virgil and his father. "Thanks . . . I think."

"Wait a minute!" Gordon cried out indignant. "How do you figure he won? He never pulled a prank."

"That's right," John agreed. "From what Virgil told us last night, you've been running around the past four days expecting a prank to be pulled on you at any moment, right?"

"Yeah, so? I kept a close eye on Scott and everything he did. If anything looked like a prank being set up, I was ready for it."

John nodded. "Right. So Scott told you four days ago, he was going to pull a prank on you. He got you thinking constantly over what he was going to do and he had you anticipating something happening at every turn."

"Uh, Johnny, what exactly are you getting at?" Gordon asked, confused.

"It's simple, Gordon. Scott pulled a prank on you by NOT pulling a prank."

There was silence around the table for few seconds before Jeff finally was the first to chuckle. Scott's smile grew bigger as he realized what John was saying. It took Virgil a few seconds longer, but eventually he started to laugh. John sat back and smiled smugly at Gordon, who was sitting with a confused look on his face.

"He got you there son," Jeff laughed. "I'd say it was an ultimate prank. Well done, Scott."

Kyrano brought over the juice and patted Scott on the shoulder. "Very strategically played, Mr. Scott."

"He got you after all Gordon," Virgil teased. "And he didn't do a thing!"

"Wait until I tell Alan," John said as he got up and headed out of the dining room.

Gordon frowned as everyone laughed. "I'm never going to live this one done," he muttered softly.

Jeff, Scott and Virgil all replied "Nope" at the same time.

fin


End file.
